Information technology giant Cisco Systems Inc., global manufacturer 3M Co. ... and the California Department of Motor Vehicles?

That's right. The state's most-public department is among some of the heaviest hitters in government and private industry to receive a 2013 Computerworld Honors Laureate for Innovation.

The technology publication honored DMV's 3-year-old social media program, which includes active Facebook and Twitter accounts. DMV was the first state agency to develop its own YouTube channel to distribute driver training and humorous informational videos such as the DMV Answerman. The clips have drawn 26 million hits so far.

DMV spokeswoman Jan Mendoza said that the department is in tune with technology trends and is constantly brainstorming how to exploit new information tools to reach the public.

"We have to keep up," Mendoza said. "Our customers demand to be served."

Founded in 1988 by Computerworld's corporate parent, International Data Group, the Computerworld Honors Program is governed by a not-for-profit foundation that honors organizations and individuals for using information technology to promote positive social, economic and educational change.

DMV is among 268 laureates in 11 award categories this year. One winner in each category will be recognized with a 21st Century Achievement Award at a June banquet in Washington, D.C.

Bee columnist Dan Walters digs into this week's Stockton bankruptcy decision and concludes the transcript of the judge's comments on his ruling "imply that the city and CalPERS may not prevail on the pension issue when he weighs the city's plan to deal with its debts."

Click here to read Dan's column.

Read the court transcript for yourself and see if you agree. Judge Christopher Klein discusses CalPERS and the city's bankruptcy plan starting at PDF page 45 (page 588 of the transcript). To jump to that part of the document, just put "45" in the page field at the bottom of the embedded document viewer. Mobile users can click the link to open the transcript.

Transcript 4-01-2013 Judge Klein Ruling in City of Stockton BK case

As we've reported today, Assemblywoman Shirley Weber has introduced a bill that would allow unions and other employee groups to use the fund's member database for direct mailings.

Assembly Bill 785 doesn't allow the groups to exploit the information for political purposes, but other mailers, such as recruiting brochures or informational newsletters, would be permitted. Third-party firms would handle the mailings and destroy the lists to prevent misuse.

CalPERS' staff is still analyzing the measure, so the fund's board hasn't taken a position on it.

We also asked CalPERS whether the member database could be sorted by bargaining unit or union membership, since some groups would probably want to narrow their mailing lists using that data. Fund spokeswoman Rosanna Westmoreland is checking.

What do you think? Take our poll and, if you're using a platform that allows it, leave a comment.

Today's State Worker column looks at a new Assembly bill that would allow unions and and retiree groups to exploit CalPERS' member-address database for direct mailing of non-political materials.

Here's Assembly Bill 785 by Assemblywoman Shirley Weber, D-San Diego:

Assembly Bill 785

With just 400 to 450 words for our weekly State Worker column, most of what we learn each week never sees print. Column Extras give you some of the notes, the quotes and the observations that inform what's published.

PHOTO CREDIT: Mail bins at West Sacramento's regional postal distribution center. / Sacramento Bee 2011 file, Jos&ecute; Luis Villegas

The Savings Plus Roadshow kicks off this morning at the Sacramento Convention Center.

The event brings together experts on a range of state-employee financial planning strategies. Representatives with the Social Security Administration, CalPERS and the new Savings Plus administrator, Aon Hewitt also will be on hand.

The Savings Plus program makes 401(k) plan and 457 plan savings available to most California state workers.

Events start today and tomorrow at 9 a.m. and run until 3 p.m. both days. On April 19, the event travels to the Ontario Convention Center.

Click here for more information.

California state employee retirements rose nearly 8 percent for the first quarter of this year when compared with the same period in 2012, according to the latest data from CalPERS.

The 3,576 retirement applications were just below the record-setting January-to-March period in 2011 when 3,626 state workers took their pensions.

The increase indicates that California's aging state employee population is retiring in greater numbers, a trend that will continue for the foreseeable future, said Elizabeth Kellar, president of the Center for State and Local Government.

"This isn't unexpected," Kellar said in a telephone interview.

Furloughs and labor unrest in 2010 and 2011 likely pushed many state workers to leave a little sooner, Kellar said, which is why the retirement numbers spiked to record highs for those two years before they fell in 2012.

"But now we're entering a more normal environment in terms of the way people make decisions," Kellar said, so the California's retirement rate has returned to the gradual increase that demographers predicted many years ago as baby boomers take their pensions.

More broadly, first quarter CalPERS retirement applications from state and local government employees and school district workers rose by a bit more than 10 percent, to 8,888 from January through March.

CalPERS counts applications from mid-month to mid-month, so the first quarter data includes the second half of December. Owing to the method CalPERS uses to calculate pensioners' first cost-of-living increase, more employees retire at the end of the calendar year than at any other time. Those retirements are counted in the January numbers.

Stateline's Melissa Maynard reports on a proposed pilot program in Oregon "that would fund treadmill desks for some state workers and study the effects on health and productivity. Treadmill desks range in cost from $400 to $5,000, but the hope is that the state could recoup its expenses through lowered health care costs over the long run."

Treadmill desks are popping up in the private sector, Maynard says, but the upfront costs create a hurdle for governments.

Oregon Republican state Rep. Jim Thompson, who sponsored the bill, says the benefits from a healthier state workforce outweigh the costs.

Read Maynard's story and then take our poll:

A group that lobbies for government openness has given California an "F" for spending transparency.

The California Public Interest Research Group and its national counterpart, USPIRG, hammer the Golden State in a report on states' use of web technology to open their books for public scrutiny.

The report issued last week assigns point totals and letter grades to all 50 states' transparency websites based on content and user friendliness.

The Golden State ranked 49th, with just 37 points out of a possible 100 points. North Dakota placed 50th, with 31 points.

The State Worker is back after a week off.

State auditor: California's net worth at negative $127.2 billion
Were California's state government a business, it would be a candidate for insolvency with a negative net worth of $127.2 billion, according to an annual financial report issued by State Auditor Elaine Howle and the Bureau of State Audits.

California Beaming
But there is something irrational, indeed unpatriotic, in rooting for California to fail, as so many conservatives are now doing. Sure, they are upset that the Republican Party is dead in this state -- R.I.P. G.O.P. And, among the fringes, there are those who cannot accept that California is a minority-majority state, with whites making up about 39 percent of the population. They've seen the future and don't like it one bit.

Legislature urges state worker raises; first time in 6 years
The Florida Senate and House rolled out their respective budget proposals on Friday. Both budgets are slightly bigger than Gov. Rick Scott's spending plan, and both differ from Scott's in one respect: Lawmakers want to give across the board pay raises to all state workers, while Scott favors bonuses to workers.

State audit faults Caltrans lapses
In an investigation released Thursday, the Bureau of State Audits sharply criticized the California Department of Transportation for numerous lapses in managing a unit that tests foundations of bridges and other freeway structures to verify their soundness and safety.

As we reported in this post, the California State Athletic Commission is struggling financially after a long history of management miscues and other lapses. The problems are so long-lasting and severe that State Auditor Elaine Howle says lawmakers should consider winding it down and transferring its duties to the Department of Consumer Affairs.

Click here to read the auditor's report. This link will download a 2011 background paper prepared for the Senate Committee on Business, Professions and Economic Development. The committee meets again on April 8 for another review.

We can never get everything we learn into a news story. "From the notebook" posts give you some of the extra details, notes and quotes behind the news.

ILLUSTRATION CREDIT: Gabi Campanario / Seattle Times 2007